Superintendent Michael Nast says the last day for Norwalk schools will be June 29 for students and June 30 for teachers. Elementary and middle school students will have half days on the final three days of classes. High school students will have half days on the last five days during which many students will have exams. Norwalk High School graduation ceremonies will take place on June 28 and Brien McMahon will hold their convocation on June 29, according to assistant superintendent Tony Daddona.
It was decided on Tuesday's Board Meeting to not apply to the State for a waiver for the 180 day school day requirement.
For the whole story see: http://www.thedailynorwalk.com/schools/last-day-school-set-june-29
Thursday, April 8, 2010
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What, exactly, is the point for a half day in elementary school? We lose full days midyear because of snow and storms, but get reimbursed with half days with low attendance.
ReplyDeleteWhy shouldn't the high schools have full days during exams? Are the schools doing so well that students can afford so many shortened days? Note that during most mid-year and final exams, students don't attend classes, and so there are quite a few lost days of instruction.
ReplyDeleteAt the high school level did you know that teachers tell the kids to stay home the last days of schoool....what a joke! And then they can leave after exams.....that is really getting them ready for the real world!
ReplyDelete"Half-day" in Norwalk means 90-minute earlier dismissal. Half of 6.25 hours is not 1.5 hours! Don't worry.
ReplyDeleteWe are all aware "half day" is a term for an "early dismissal". Same complaint. It's a waste of a day. Early release days are as hard on working parents as a day home. We're not worrying. We are profoundly disturbed.
ReplyDelete"Early release days are as hard on working parents as a day home." So what do you want--a school or a daycare provider? So tired of this generation of parents. Grow up.
ReplyDelete5:14 - You should be more respectful of parents. If you disagree, stick to the issues and argue your position. Turning it into mudslinging doesn't solidify your position.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice but no thanks. Respect is a two way street. I don't notice any of them monitoring their thoughts on here.
ReplyDeleteWhat is upsetting to me is that Greenwich took away some spring breakdays, on short notice, why couldn't Norwalk??
ReplyDelete5:14 - Do you always paint with such a broad brush? My experience with "this generation of parents" is far different than yours, and I have over 30 years of experience in public education, which gives me a few generations to compare.
ReplyDeleteGreenwich is going until the 29th, also. No half days, though, except for the last day of school. April vacation was not impacted; one early dismissal day for professional development was eliminated.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any good reasons for shortened days of school, especially because most people treat these days as being somehow less important. I've heard too often that there are teachers who will tell students it's acceptable to miss school on the shortened days at the end of the year. Some say that there won't be any meaningful work. What's worse is that I've also heard too often that there are teachers who actually tell students not to attend.
ReplyDeletePeople who really care about student achievement would never do that, and I'm sure that the majority of teachers don't. There shouldn't be any who do.
School administrators should make it their responsibility to monitor instruction closely until the end of the school year.
To 4-28 4:51, Elementary schools extended year consists of days that are 2 hours shorter for the last 3 days. 30% shorter over 3 days still calculates to me as a loss of more than one day. How this translates to quality education, I do not know.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent of a 12th grader--let me tell you......my child has been told to not come to school after finals each year. I protested this the first year and got no where. Finally I see that others have noticed this, but nothing is being done.
ReplyDeleteI guess I ask administartors and board of ed members to address this. Shame on the system that does not work for our kids. After 12 years, I am thankful to say that we are moving on. Our elementary years were the best, hands down. Those teachers work their tails off for our kids on all different levels. I have seen and heard too many things that no one has wanted to fix in the high school (sitting with high school teachers who do not care, do not repsond to parent emails, give kids attitudes, punish the whole class for a few studenst poor behavior) These things are unexceptable YET they continue.
Can a school official tell me the attendance rate for teh last few days when the teachers are cleaning their rooms? Maybe board of ed members and administartors should visit schools those last days of June to see what really goes on. Any comments??
I agree. BOE members should visit the schools in these last few days. There is NO learning going on. How about it, BOE?
ReplyDeleteI will tell you as a Norwalk administrator and parent of several children who recently came through the system: high school teachers tell kids NOT TO COME after finals. Middle school teachers are a little more subtle, but the message is there. Period.
ReplyDeleteAt elementary school, we have full classrooms up until the very last day of school. Manipulatives are out, lots of instructional materials are posted on the walls, reading materials are prominently displayed, and student work supports pride in learning. ALL AS IT SHOULD BE!! The rooms need to be broken down, walls cleared, books stored and secured. Files need to be updated, and many teachers have a summer program taking place in their classrooms. None of this can be accomplished with kids in the room. Teachers need to leave rooms with the thought that they may not be back in the same place next year.
That's the reason, folks, for early dismissal on the last few days of school. The teachers' contract says that they can leave at the end of the day, so all of this must be accomplished before the last day ends.
It is really different than a middle or high school classroom. I've been in many, and there might be a poster or two on the wall, but that's it. They can also walk in after convocation and be ready to go in a couple of hours.
Elementary teachers spend days setting up their classrooms so that they are child centered, inviting, and ready for those lovely faces that show up on day one of school.
Thank you to the 2:33 poster for recognizing the work of Norwalk's elementary school teachers!!! The teachers in my school are there 2-3 hours after the closing of school on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of BOE members taking tours of the middle and high schools the last 14 days of school. They will get an eye opener for sure. Most of the classes are just measuring time and the kids who show up are there to socialize. There isn't any real learning going on. AP exams are over, honors classes kids have often been exempt from exams, what are they there to do at that point? Hot, sweaty, stuffy rooms filled with hot, bored, uninterested teens. Those half days will surely be seen for what they are in most cases - a waste of education time! And bless those few teachers who actually teach to the end!!!
ReplyDelete6:45 - I don't know why you describe the classrooms as being hot, sweaty and stuffy. BMHS and NHS are air conditioned schools. I realize that the air conditioning occasionally fails, but that is not the case on a typical day.
ReplyDeleteAs for "a waste of education time," as you referred to it, there are some teachers who demand professional respect from their students. These teachers teach and their students learn until the end of the school year. All it takes is a sense of professional integrity and the guts to play the part of the adult in the classroom. I assure you that I would never allow my students to decide when teaching and learning ends in my classroom.
7:55--very few high school teachers "demand professional respect from their students"--you are likely if you have gotten that for your child. WE have not---many of rude, lazy (yes--there are no posters on the walls..bare walls, even after instruction has begun--HELLO?? If you walk into a high school room in Norwalk in November or january there is no difference noted from September--it is uninviting, bare walled, looks like a ghost town, un willing to discuss issues uin a timely fashion.
ReplyDeleteHere is where I am fed up with the system--talk is about increasing class sizes for elemenetary--they are doing their part--let's push those teachers who are being negligent with our older childre who can be pushed and need to be pushed. High school teachers should not be allowed to get away with what they have been gettign away with--UNACCEPTABLE!!
4:08--your comments are so accurate. Thank you for sharing them.
Steve, anycomments from the board of ed? Here is where we are failing our kids....
The "don't come to school after exams" sentiment is not unique to Norwalk. I have nieces and nephews in New Canaan and Darien and neighbors in Westport and it's the same there. Not that it's right, of course, just saying that it's not just teachers in Norwalk that are telling kids that it's not essential to come to school after exams.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've heard of some teachers in Norwalk who have given their exams before the scheduled time, leaving them with even more free time at the end of the school year.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't just middle and high school teachers who don't teach on those last days. Elementary teachers show movies or do nothing in many of the schools.
ReplyDeleteNow, hold ON Anonymous 2:28. First of all, visit a school with no air-conditioning and 20+ bodies with a window along one wall in June. Most children would drop from heat stroke if they weren't encouraged to drink lots of water and remain at rest during particularly humid days. Show movies? I think not. Not unless those movies have to do with curriculum to support the visual learner. By the way, it is more work to show a movie to a roomful of kids than it is to let them move independently about to work on a self-interest research project that they can create on PowerPoint or large chart paper to share with the class. Make no mistake about it.
ReplyDeleteOh sure, my first grader will work on their power point presentation. Right after they finish showing HIgh School Musical. And I am not making that up! And yes, there is AC, they just choose not to run it, they say it costs too much to run.
ReplyDelete5:44 - Having taught under those conditions for many years, I know how difficult it is, but if that is the teacher's job, if that is what I am being paid to do, that is what I ought to be doing.
ReplyDeleteConstruction workers don't work when weather conditions make it unsafe, e.g., when it is raining hard. However, they also don't get paid for the day missed. If the board of education were to offer you a day or more off without pay when it is hot and humid, would you take it?
First of all, I don't think this can be fully understood here. Instead of jumping to conclusions, ask your teacher what the goals are in June. You have a right to know the objectives week by week. I know elementary teachers who find it difficult to end the year. There is so much they need to do to bring the grade level learning to a close. It doesn't help to have parents pull kids out of school early in June, which they sometimes do. Reading and writing is ongong till the very end and I know some teachers who send students home with books they purchase for them, according to each student's individual reading level, for the summer. Some grade levels have field trips booked in June. They also have inhouse presentations scheduled for Science and Social Studies concepts. The students will have response projects to complete following what they learned. The last week of school involves grade level award ceremonies, spelling and math bee challenges, sorting books according to genre after using them all year, as well as many, many other closing activities. I am familiar with teachers who create an autograph poster for each member of the class. Each student writes one positive comment for every student. There are endless activities like this and they have to picked carefully at the appropriate time. In hot rooms, students may not feel like moving much at all. If there is any down time at all, I know teachers who prefer good old-fashioned boardgames rather than movies so children can interact with each other, read directions, and demonstrate sportsmanship. Much of what they do has to be timed just right and reflects the needs of the kids. It wouldn't be humane to have children do worksheets all day. It wouldn't be humane to MAKE them read all day or write all day either. It wouldn't be good teaching either. Kids need a balance of learning activities - but I agree 100 percent - there should be a clear purpose for anything that is done in the classroom until the very end. Please ask your question to the appropriate party, rather than assume that all educators show movie after movie at the end of the year.I know many teachers at the elementary level who do not do this.
ReplyDelete'It wouldn't be humane to have children do worksheets all day'....Ummmmmm, does this happen Sept.-May? I thought worksheets were a thing of the past. That's not good practice in cold weather, never mind during the last week of school.
ReplyDelete'I know teachers who prefer good old-fashioned boardgames.......' Are you kidding? Our children have problems with test scores and some teachers have them playing board games during the last week of school? I don't care how you rationalize this, it's inappropriate.
'sorting books according to genre....' Isn't that the teacher's responsibility? I can't imagine how you can justify this with a clear purpose!
8:29, don't assume it's going to be hot that last week of school. And if all of June is hot, should we expect no learning because it is not humane?????????
I know I have chosen only some of your activities, but please don't tell me these are 'learning experiences' that will help a child do better in the CMT.
or on anything else, 3:06.
ReplyDeleteTo all the un-initiated:
ReplyDeleteTake a day off from your air-conditioned offices and join us in the ovens of the final days. Lesson plans? CMTs? Time on task? PLEASE!! All this crap about what is "humane"? How about people being comfortable? Pavlov's dogs would bite most of the people responding on this blog. Please save the "teacher of the year" salve for the totally clueless. My advice is... if you think you are getting beat as a taxpayer, get off your a** and go to a hot school the last week of June. My guess is that you will be telling those teachers that they were destined for better things in their lives. Lack of air conditioning in the summer months should be, and probably is, against OSHA regulations in most schools. It's very easy to play on the platitudes of the teaching profession, but another again to deliver the goods in intolerable conditions. Been there done that. Sorry....been there, NOT done that. If most are brutally honest, they are watching a clock praying for the end of the day, or dehydration...whichever comes first. And please...please...all future teachers of the year..save your self-serving comments for the freshman class at SCSU.
6:04 - regarding your reference to classical conditioning, your premise isn't logical;
ReplyDelete'Get off your a**' isn't professional;
definition of salve: : a remedial or soothing influence or agency,a salve to their hurt feelings......doesn't make sense here;
As for OSHA, from their web site: 'Many workers spend some part of their working day in a hot environment. Workers in foundries, laundries, construction projects, and bakeries -- to name a few industries -- often face hot conditions which pose special hazards to safety and health. The following references aid in identifying hazards and possible solutions for heat stress in the workplace.' Nowhere does OSHA rule against excessive heat in the workplace. Solutions are offered to lessen heat stress.
9:13, "foundries, laundries, construction projects and bakeries..." Do you think, just maybe, that a school is just a tad removed from those other workplace venues that deal with molten metals, hot machinery, tar, and bread?? Educators are dealing with the animate(most of the time), and in many of our schools there are not adequate "solutions offered to lessen heat stress" It is realized that these intolerable conditions exist for a very short part of the school year here in the northern climes, but they do exist. When they do, one can't expect a lot of meaningful educational activity. A place called school should never "pose special hazards to safety and health". Unfortunately, some of them do.
ReplyDeleteFirst, you are assuming unhealthy conditions. In the last few years, June has been rather cool.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, most teachers are allowed fans in the room. Some principals have even purchased them for their teachers. With a fan, I would ask that you record the temperature in your classroom. I am wondering just how hot it gets. Don't forget to record the morning hours as well.
Thirdly, I have seen teachers take their students outside under a tree, with books and papers. Learning continues to take place outside.
Tell me what you are going to do if the temperatures in May reach the 90s? Should school be called off? Should learning cease?
BTW, if temperatures during the summer reach those levels,should we tell our children not to go outdoors and play? Should we be required to purchase air conditioning in our houses if our children want to read a book? Are our houses hazards for the safety and health of our children during these times? Perhaps President Obama should have considered adding air conditioning to every home and school as a part of the health care bill. We must alert congress of these health hazards!You should write to them!
Wow... someone is totally missing the mark and needs to visit a school, period!! I believe the excellent activities listed above are some of the more fun activities infused with subject matter. Since my child prefers to spend time behind a screen, I welcome the social interaction that school provides.
ReplyDeleteParents are generally supportive of their child's teacher and the learning activities in the classroom. If a parent has a problem, it would be wise to seek audience with the appropriate person(s) rather than leave a child with a system you highly distrust.
6:57, perhaps you are assuming that I have not been in a school, but that is not at all true. Perhaps you allow your child to spend time behind a screen, but I do not. Social interaction, for the most part, is also the responsibility of the parent(s).
ReplyDeleteYou state that they (games) are infused with subject matter. Yes, there are games that are educational, but normally at the end of the year, if not more often, games are indiscriminately given to students whether the student has mastered that skill or not. Many times the student chooses what educational game s/he wants to play. Yes, I have seen this happen time and time again.
Distrust? That is not my point. My sole argument is that there is far too much time wasted in classrooms that is not on task. Look at our test scores and tell me that we can't do better.
6:57 - You are the one who is naive.
ReplyDeleteair conditioning was part of renovations for schools...but unfortunately Brookside got all the funds and left other schools with nothing! Not even running water!! I assume every home has running water for students to drink on hot days!
ReplyDelete